I am reposting this quote because, after learning of Wagamese's death tonight, re-reading it just now teared me up and gave me a - these are the only words I can grasp - a warm chill...
RIP, Richard Wagamese. I am going to go to bed soon and listen to this 2013 interview with him.
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thenextchapter/shelagh-s-feature-interview-with-richard-...
RIP, Richard Wagamese. 1955-2017
I'm very sad to have to break this news – so far it's only been reported by several sources on Twitter including major Canadian media outlets, and also on Wikipedia, but this amazingly gifted indigenous Canadian writer has passed away. I read this memoir of his earlier this year and absolutely loved it. Incredibly sad…
Written in plain but powerful prose and bite-sized chapters, this memoir of an indigenous Canadian writer is one of the most hypnotically calming books I've ever read. I don't go in much for the spiritual side of things, but Wagamese coaxed me there with his meditations on identity, family, music, friends, nature, and joy. I trusted each and every word.
😍😍
Wow, I don't know what possessed me to pause my reading of his memoir just now to check him out on YouTube, but this acceptance speech blew me away – his voice is pretty much exactly the way I've been hearing it in my head while reading. Take five minutes and have a listen; I think you'll fall in love with him as much as I have. As much as I just fell in love with that FABULOUS shirt! :-) https://youtu.be/t0z9rYHbQ8E
I've never really connected with Springsteen's music, but I listened to Thunder Road just now while reading this chapter of Wagamese's memoirs: something clicked.
My mom has, let me be frank, hounding me for months to read Richard Wagamese. Now that I'm getting into his memoir, I must thank her: I find the writing so deceptively simple, and calming, and moving.